In 2010, the unemployment rate for the Indigenous population remained steady at 18%, with an estimated 36,600 unemployed Indigenous people aged 15 years and over.

The unemployment rate for Indigenous people was 16% in Major Cities, and 23% in Regional areas. The unemployment rate for Indigenous males living in Major cities remained relatively steady at 17% whereas the rate for Indigenous females decreased 9 points to 14%. In regional areas the unemployment rate for Indigenous males increased 5 points to 27% whereas the unemployment rate for Indigenous females living in regional areas remained relatively steady at 18%.

Estimates of unemployment for Remote areas were subject to high sampling errors and should therefore be used with caution. Furthermore, Remote areas generally have an underdeveloped labour market where people often do not actively look for work and therefore are not classified as unemployed, even though they are not working and might indeed prefer to work if the labour market were different.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, Indigenous persons aged 15 years and over - 2005 to 2010

For more detailed estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander unemployment, refer to Tables 1 to 5 (available in Downloads).